W's Return
by Rangerfan58
Summary: Philip has returned but now thanks to a Dopant they've lost Hidari Shotaro...or have they? is Shotaro really dead and if not why hasn't he told his friends. profile explains how i choose to rate things


_What you don't recognize I own. This is after the final episode so I guess it can be considered AU mental communication will be asterisks thoughts will be italics_

Things were quiet in the Narumi Detective Agency, everyone there was quiet thinking about what had happened only two months ago, though they still couldn't quite believe it had only been two months since they had lost a member of their group, since they had lost Hidari Shotaro in a fight against a Dopant one they didn't even know was part of the case until it was pretty much too late. The Dopant had since disappeared but they knew that it would return, they just weren't quite sure when or where yet because they had no clues about the Dopant's target yet

"Ryu-kun has there been any sign of Shotaro-kun's body?"

"No Chief nothing"

"I see"

"Terui should I do a look up to try and find out the Dopant?"

"No Philip that won't do any good right now, not until we have some keywords"

"Then should I do a look up to try and find out possible locations of Shotaro's body?"

"No Philip, I'm not going to do that to you, not after everything the two of you have been through, he was devastated when you were gone for a year but at least he knew what had happened to you, but this time all we know is that he went into the ocean and disappeared. The ocean is too vast for you when we have no leads"

"Understood Terui"

Suddenly Ryu's phone rang and he answered

"Hello?...I see I'm on my way" (ends the call) "I have to go, they found a body that fits the description of Hidari, you two stay here until I can find out the truth if it is Hidari I don't want you there to find out"

Terui Ryu heads out and finally reaches the area he was told, and was physically ill at the sight of the body instantly realizing it was Hidari Shotaro. He gets closer to the body to see if he managed to give them any clues about either the Dopant or the criminal they were working on for the original case and actually found both on his body

"Thank you Hidari Shotaro, we'll be able to stop the enemy with this information"

Ryu goes back to the Agency and goes to where Philip stayed most of the time, even after the defeat of the Sonozaki family

"Philip you can go into the Gaia Library now, keywords are Fire, Tokyo, Amasuka Gentaro"

"Do you have anything else I can't narrow it down any further"

"Final keyword...sixth fire district"

"I have it"

Philip opens his eyes with the knowledge he needed and the group headed to the next location, knowing that the Dopant was after former co-workers that had transferred to Futo and both then transformed

"Hen...shin! Accel"

"Henshin! Cyclone"

Terui Ryu transformed into Kamen Rider Accel while Philip transformed into Kamen Rider Cyclone. This happened because after Philip's return they found a second Lost Driver that allowed Philip to transform into Kamen Rider Cyclone at need though both hoped it would never be needed they made sure they had both on them at all times just in case, because for all they knew the two of them would be separated and unable to change into double for whatever reason so they would have to change into their separate personalities just to keep themselves alive. It was also a contingency plan for exactly this occasion because they never knew when a case would kill one of them, like it temporarily killed Philip and also killed Hidaro Shotaro's boss Narumi Sokichi

"Oh are you here to get revenge for that Detective?"

"No, we're not here for revenge, we're just here to stop you from killing anyone else Narumi Fuyuko"

The battle was intense but finally the Gaia Memory was destroyed and Fuyuko was arrested for the murder of three other firefighters not to mention Hidari Shotaro and the property damage he incurred. Once Terui got back to the Agency, he did his daily check up on Philip and then he and Akiko went out to get some supplies they needed because while the two of them were married and had their own house they decided to stay with Philip for the time being seeing as how they knew he would be lonely with their mental connection essentially broken, because Philip and Shotaro really were the two in one detective, two halves of a whole and one was now suffering with the loss of his partner. Philip did have Mick who was the only family he had left, and who had been taken care of by Shotaro while Philip was gone but they both knew it just wasn't the same

"Here Philip-kun here's your favorite Raman"

"Oh...thanks Aki-chan"

Both Akiko and Ryu could tell he still wasn't fully engaged in normal life and that only cases kept him active, that and Dopant activities, other than that he wasn't really engaged in real life like Shotaro could get him to once the Sonozaki issue had been taken care of, if not for his cat he wouldn't get out at all and there were times when Philip simply had the two of them get the cat food. Meanwhile not everything had been revealed about Shotaro's death and in an underground bunker there was a person still unconscious that the Narumi Detective Agency was missing. Hidari Shotaro hadn't been killed that day in the Dopant attack, though it was close, instead he had nearly drowned but was rescued by the Japanese Self Defense Force who took him into protective custody. They had found out about him due to a soldier having asked for his help a while back and they decided to keep an eye on him because of the fact that he went head long into danger. Through that they found out about him being Kamen Rider and they also found out about Philip, Akiko and Ryu and were keeping an eye on the three of them for him until he could return

"So how is he?"

"Still unconscious, and unfortunately we now have a problem"

"What's the problem?"

"Terui Ryu was asked to identify a body and he positively identified it as Hidari Shotaro, I took a look and if not for the fact that I knew the truth I would have believed it was him"

"Which means we have a Dopant still out there that can copy people down to DNA to make them appear dead"

"Or alive if everyone already knows that they're dead"

"This isn't good"

"No sir it's not, but what can we do?"

"For now nothing but wait until he wakes up"

"Sir are they sure he'll even wake up?, he almost drowned and has been unconscious ever since"

"I know, but we must have hope, how are the three people anyways?"

"Terui Ryu and Terui Akiko are seen on a regular basis, partially because of the fact that Terui Ryu has a job with the police and Terui Akiko occasionally brings him lunch, Philip is only seen when he works on a case which is rare or is getting cat food, other than that he mainly stays inside the Detective Agency even though he can live his life freely"

"I see, tell the medics to try a new route because he's still alive and as long as he's alive we have hope"

"Yes sir"

"Sir, what if he has other injuries that we aren't aware of yet?"

"That will have to wait until he's awake enough to tell us himself"

"Understood sir, and sir what are we supposed to do about Hidari Shotaro being believed dead?"

"For now it's actually safer for him to be thought dead, but once he's awake we'll find a way of sending a message to his friends about the truth"

"Yes sir"

The group gets to work trying to find another way of waking up Hidari Shotaro, meanwhile Philip had what he believed was a normal case and it turned out that it was just a simple missing persons case that the police had been having trouble with. When he got back to the Agency he typed up his report just like Shotaro had and then simply waited for the next case while also interacting with his cat Mick, when Akiko and Terui Ryu showed up for their daily check in they saw him smiling for the first time since the death of Shotaro, because even when he played with Mick before there wasn't any spark or joy in his eyes, and he didn't smile either unlike today, with that smile they knew that he was finally healing from the loss of Shotaro though all three of them would always miss him they were recovering. Of course the two of them didn't delude themselves into thinking that the road wasn't finished because it had taken Shotaro a year to really recover from Philip's loss and that only happened because Philip came back, and Shotaro had only been gone for two months so they knew he would get depressed again soon enough especially when Hidari was ever actually mentioned

"Hey, we brought cat food in case you forgot to buy some recently"

"Oh thanks guys I did forget mainly because of the case I was on"

"Oh what was it?"

"A missing child, finally found them and returned him to his parents and then came straight back to type up the report"

"That makes sense then, have any trouble with the Gaia Library?"

"None Aki-chan"

"Okay, so you hungry?"

"Sure, but not for Raman, I think some Mochi will work"

"Sure"

The three of them make lunch and simply enjoy each others presence not knowing that they were being observed by the government

"So, think we should give them some work so that they have money to make some much needed repairs that we can see are needed?"

"They'll figure out it's a fake case way too easily though, maybe an anonymous donation would work better for them"

"Maybe, but Philip is smart too smart sometimes and he might figure it out, as it is I'm surprised he hasn't figured out that we're his mysterious benefactor from a month ago, the one month anniversary of Hidari Shotaro's 'death'"

"Well we did need the help, and the people we sent were the best ones for the job, but I guess you're right and we shouldn't try that again, instead I guess we'll have to settle for protecting from the shadows because we have our orders, not to mention we're not much good against Dopants"

"Well either way, it looks like they could use some help so why don't I report in while you keep an eye on things and then I'll get back to you on the Hidari Shotaro situation"

"Last I knew he was still unconscious"

"Well he might have woken up since our last check in you never know"

"True, so you take care of your end while I take care of mine, and don't forget the code phrase for if we suspect we've been discovered"

"I won't, if we have been we'll leave in a hurry so that they can't identify us"

"Good thing we picked this spot"

"Yeah"

The one person does the regular check in while the other keeps on eye on the Agency. Five minutes later his partner shows back up

"Hidari is still unconscious, though they're going to try something new to wake him up, once that happens the plan is to let the group we're watching know he's alive somehow"

"Even though it's for the best he's thought dead?"

"Yes, but honestly I don't think it's healthy that this group believes him gone, Philip is severely depressed and not socializing at all while the other two are barely doing any better and that's because of Terui Ryu's job as a cop"

"At least the three of them are being productive members of society...hey why are all three of them leaving the Agency at the same time?"

They leave their observation post to follow the three of them and overhear the conversation

"Just why are we headed to police headquarters again Terui?"

"Easy Philip, because you've been requested to help out in a case for some reason, and since...Hidari is unavailable and you've been by his side most often they've asked you for help"

"Fine, but I bet I'll solve the case faster than they've probably been able to"

"Philip, you have the Gaia Library to help you out they don't"

"True, but still they shouldn't need my help"

"Unless it involves Dopants and you know that Philip-kun"

"I know Aki-chan, it's just that it doesn't seem like it's that kind of case"

"Because the Dopants have been lying low for a while"

"Exactly"

They continue the conversation still not knowing that they were being followed and their two followers had enough time to pause and look at each other with a look that was pretty universal in the translation of not good

"Time to report this to our boss?"

"Not quite yet, after all for all we know it could be a normal problem"

"True, but what about once they get inside the police station, we aren't to reveal ourselves unless there's no other choice"

"Easy, we have people inside that station for now remember?"

"Oh yeah, to keep an eye on Terui Ryu while he's at work"

"Exactly, once they see him and the other two inside they'll do their job as part of his unit"

"Right forgot about that"

The three detectives enter the station which meant the two government agents following him were through for the moment, though they parked themselves in a nearby location until their shift was over just in case it was a quick trip. Inside the station they went to an office and instantly realized just why they were called to help, Philip was partially correct in that it wasn't a Dopant case from the looks of things but the case was strange and the police were at their whits end trying to find any more clues

"This case doesn't make any sense yet is there any clues you might have that you didn't recognize as a clue?"

"Not sure Terui, there might have been but we just don't know"

"Philip, is there anything you can deduce from just this?"

"I'll do my best"

Philip goes into his pose that most everyone thought was his thinking pose and he couldn't narrow down the results by much, once he opened his eyes he revealed he got nothing

"Sorry Ryu I have nothing there's still too many variants"

"Okay, maybe if we go to the scene of the most recent case we'll find something they might have missed you never know"

"Okay, let's go, Terui Ryu I would suggest being prepared for trouble from the looks of the pictures"

"I know, don't worry I'll be ready, as should you Philip"

Both of them understood the implied preparations needed, as did two of the "officers" who were actually government employees keeping an eye on the three of them for Hidari. Most of the officers there didn't know about Philip and Ryu being Kamen Riders but those in the know knew what preparations were needed, making sure they were ready to transform at a moments notice

"I will be"

"Ryu Philip isn't a fighter"

"I know, however he might surprise you at a time of need"

The group leaves the office and the outside observers resume their duty, though it was now a new shift the three Narumi Detective Agency people were watched carefully. Meanwhile the others kept an eye on Hidari Shotaro, though everyone knew that was a plush assignment seeing as how Shotaro was currently unconscious still they had to make sure he stayed safe from his enemies

"So has there been any improvement in Hidari Shotaro's condition?"

"None, though a new treatment plan looks hopeful we just won't know until a later time if it's actually working, what about the threesome?"

"They're good, going to a case location to see if they can get any new clues that the police might have missed, but it doesn't look like a Dopant is involved"

"An easy case then, though why the police are having trouble is a mystery"

"Well you never know there could be a Dopant involved and it just hasn't come to light yet, not to mention some cases the police get are just plain _weird_ or at least that's what our insiders tell us"

"You have a point, now then let's continue our jobs because I don't think our boss is going to be happy with us slacking with peoples lives in danger"

"You know I wonder why we even watch them when they can protect themselves quite well"

"Philip isn't the fighter out of the two and will tire quickly, as for Terui Ryu you never know what the enemy will try and pull so it's best he has hidden back up just in case, not to mention the fact he's going to be worried about his wife"

"Okay you have me there, and I guess it would be good for us to have a first hand account on how they're doing for Hidari Shotaro once he wakes up"

"Exactly, though he may not wake up for a while yet"

"But the new treatment..."

"Is new and may not work, however what we were doing before isn't working either so we have to try something new because he needs to protect the city not to mention cheer up his friends who get depressed relatively easily from what we can tell, eve the married couple will get depressed whenever Hidari Shotaro is mentioned, last reports say that Philip simply shuts down when he hears Hidari's name, just like before apparently when the word family was initially mentioned by a Dopant, he got over that but he lived with Hidari for over a year without his memories of his family, thus Terui Ryu, Terui Akiko and Hidari Shotaro are his family, especially because besides a cat his real family is dead"

"Real family?"

"Yes Philip's real name is Sonozaki Raito, but he doesn't remember that life so he continues to go by Philip as it makes it easier for everyone"

"Oh that makes sense then, no wonder Philip is near catatonic unless he has work and will shut down at the mention of his partner"

"Exactly, now then we follow and stay quiet you know the rules"

"Right"

The group gets to the crime scene and Ryu, Philip and Akiko instantly see clues that the police missed because while Dopant attacks can be and most are blatently obvious some of them are not, especially if the owner of the memory was smart, and this Dopant was smart

"Okay Philip here are the keywords, heat, fasion, music, shows"

"I have it Ryu"

Philip reveals the results which were facinating to everyone, including the Dopant that was involved that the police was missed they had everything they needed to finish the case

"Okay Philip, just remember your limit"

"I know"

"Okay let's go stop a Dopant"

The two of them get to where the Dopant would next strike and strike it did, and the two of them activated their Gaia Memories which turned them into Kamen Riders

"Henshin! Cyclone!"

"Hen...shin! Accel!"

In place of Terui Ryu and Philip everyone now saw Kamen Rider Cyclone and Kamen Rider Accel. The two of them took down the fire type Dopant though Philip was forced to stop fighting first because he simply did not have the endurance Hidari Shotaro and Terui Ryu had, which was why he wasn't the main body often. Accel was the one to take the enemy down ultimately and then Ryu took the person to jail like he usually did while Philip and Akiko went back to the Agency to make themselves lunch, not to mention the fact that Philip simply didn't go outside very often now that Shotaro was "dead" and preferred staying at his home that was familiar, painful because of all the reminders of Hidari Shotaro but it was basically the only home he knew and was comforting. Over the next few days Philip mainly dealt with lost pets with one missing item, meanwhile Hidari Shotaro finally woke up after almost three months in a coma

"Where am I?"

"Easy there Hidari Shotaro, you're safe, what's the last thing you remember?"

Shotaro thinks for a minute and then tries to sit up

"The Dopant!"

He's forced back down firmly but gently while the doctor talks to him

"It's been taken care of by Terui Ryu and Philip almost a month ago, the attack was two months ago almost three, now then I'm going to do some tests to see if there's anything other than expected general muscle weakness wrong with you"

The tests reveal that Hidari Shotaro couldn't feel his legs

"This might not be permanent, there are treatments that will help you regain the use of your legs, now then your friends think you're dead considering the circumstances of the attack so do you have any messages for them that you want to pass on that will let them know this isn't a hoax?"

"Yeah, I have a few things that will let them know it's really me...wait if you've had me this entire time why haven't you told them?"

"They would ask for proof and that would be too dangerous for everyone involved so we had to wait until you woke up from your coma"

"Fine, get me some paper and I'll write down the messages"

Shotaro was writing his messages when someone in uniform came bursting in

"Report Lt."

"Sir, there's been an attack on the Narumi Detective Agency and...there are no survivors, it was a Dopant attack, we've been overrun and the Dopants have declared victory along with a few other creatures that we don't recognize, they've taken over Japan sir"

"Show us soldier"

The TV is turned on and it's instantly recognized that Shotaro knows what they were seeing

"Those unknown creatures are also Dopants, they're using Gaia Memories that I was investigating before the attack, the users are known as NEVER soldiers, people who have been revived from the dead and they are dangerous, but they also require regular injections to keep themselves alive"

"Well so much for your messages to your friends, but we can still get your legs working again so that you can fight from the shadows in honor of your lost friends"

"I agree, though it will probably take several months for my legs to regain their use and for me to be strong enough to fight once more"

"True, but I have a feeling you'll work hard so that you can help us regain the country"

"Does this mean I'm part of the military now?"

"No, you're still technically a civilian under our protection, that is when you're not fighting the Dopants as Kamen Rider Joker"

"How do you know that?"

"We've had you under observation for a while Hidari Shotaro, by the way we have your driver and Gaia Memory for when you're healed and ready to get back into the fight, and we're offering you self defense lessons to help you fight better than before"

"I think what I know should be good enough, though spars once I am back on my feet would be appreciated so that I know how well I am recovering to be able to fight once more"

"Of course we'll have spars, now then one more thing, your clothes were ruined and we haven't gotten any new clothes for you in your normal style so you're going to have to get used to clothes that aren't from Windscale especially because shopping is now too dangerous"

"I understand, at least tell me they'll fit and that my one outfit was repairable"

"Unfortunately it wasn't but yes the clothes we got you will fit"

"Fine, um until we can get my legs working again do you have any exercises for my arms?"

"Yes, now that you're awake we can help you regain your upper body strength until we can get to work on your legs, hopefully we'll be able to find something that will work before too long, um about the NEVER soldiers do you know if that would work on your legs?"

"I don't know but since it was for people that were dead I don't think so but it's worth researching"

Everyone notices a fond look on his face at mentioning research and after having observed the Narumi group for as long as they had everyone there knew Hidari Shotaro was thinking of his partner who would research things at the drop of a hat to the point of distraction from the real objective sometimes. The military gets to work on fixing Shotaro's legs while Terui Ryu, Terui Akiko and Philip were in another location having survived the attack on the Narumi Detective Agency building partially through the hidden room that Philip stayed in most of the time, they had found another location to stay but realized that they were probably thought dead

"So what now?"

"Now we fight back, the people will have hope if they hear the name Kamen Rider even after the Dopants have taken over"

"Should we split up?"

"No not right now"

"But Philip-kun"

"Aki-chan it's better we stay together right now because we only have each other, maybe later when we have more people we'll split up but for now I don't want to lose you and Terui like we've lost Shotaro"

"I understand wait are you sure we should have civilians stay with us?"

"Yes, I've done research on similar situations and this is the best option we have for everyone to survive"

"Philip-kun those were during wars and the camps were imposed on people"

"The concept is the same though, we stick together for greater chance of survival, haven't people that have gotten lost and then meet up with people in a similar situation done that in the past?"

"He has a point Chief"

"Fine, but if you two have to go out to fight we're going to be careful about not revealing who you two are if at all possible to keep everyone safe"

"Of course Aki-chan"

"Chief, if or when we get civilians I want you to be in charge of their well being, as well as doing your best to keep our secret"

"Sure Ryu-kun I can do that"

"But first I want you to follow me, there's something I want to show you"

Akiko follows Ryu and he takes her to a hatch when opened up reveals their home

"I didn't hear about this!"

"I know, I made this place so that if anything happened to me and the house was attacked you could get to the Narumi Detective Agency safely in secrecy. If the worst happens I want you to bring the refugees to here our home, it will be crowded but safe"

"But Ryu-kun Dopants can attack any where's not to mention the fact that they know who we are so they might know where we live and will attack this place in retaliation. I'm surprised our home hasn't been attacked yet but maybe it's simply because they attacked the Agency not too long ago"

"You could be right Chief, which is why we're going to check this place at least once a week to see if it's still standing before bringing the civilians"

"Okay, let's get back"

The two of them get back to their new home and start getting ready to fight back whenever possible. Part of that preparation meant that Philip got self defense lessons from Ryu so that he could physically last longer in a fight both as Kamen Rider Cyclone and also himself because they didn't delude themselves into thinking that they wouldn't have to fight in their civilian form. Terui Ryu had the advantage of being a police officer and as such having to know how to defend himself but Philip only knew how to fight when he was W and he tired real easily so Philip mainly had endurance training and refinement of whatever fighting skills he did have. Once Ryu was confident enough that Philip would be able to last in a battle as both himself and Kamen Rider W he was allowed to join in on the search/destroy patrols that Ryu had started only days after their supposed death. Meanwhile having been two months since he had woken up Hidari Shotaro was starting to get frustrated at the lack of progress the military had made in getting his legs to work again because the NEVER soldier project wouldn't work for him as had been found out through research, but they weren't giving up on him regaining his legs it was just taking a while was all

"So what new developments have their been in the outside world?"

"Rumors mostly, but we've been trying to ascertain the truth about a certain rumor all things considered"

"What rumor?"

"That people have seen Kamen Rider Accel and Kamen Rider Cyclone helping people against Dopants, however seeing as how those two are supposed to be dead we need physical proof"

"What about when I join in do you think they would reveal themselves?"

"I don't know, and like I said it's mainly rumors because people have really only seen shadows that look like the Kamen Riders that I have mentioned, and for all we know it could also be imposters trying to scare the Dopants"

"How would we get the proof?"

"We're not sure yet, now then we think we might have a solution in regards to your paralysis, but it requires surgery and as you know all surgeries are inherintely risky"

"Let's do it, I want to get up and moving again, I want to fight once more so that we can free the country starting with Futo"

"Okay, just remember that even if the surgery _does_ work you'll have your work cut out for you in regards to being able to even simply walk again much less do any fighting"

"I know, but I'm prepared for it, besides we've been doing exercises with my legs even if I can't move them in the hopes that I would regain the ability to walk"

"True enough, those exercises should be able to help in the fact that your muscles haven't astrophied too badly but your brain hasn't been properly sending signals to your legs since your attack several months ago so don't be surprised if you have trouble regaining the proper use of your legs"

"I know but as soon as we know if the surgery worked or not the exercises we've been doing will be a start, and will also be a big help in relearning how my legs work"

"Oh one more bit of business, we recently managed to rescue a member of the Futo police that you might recognize, a Mikio Jinno who was attacked by Dopants and almost got himself killed if not for one of his 'officers' who actually works for us but is in the Futo police under orders. We have no clue where they are now because of the fact that while our undercover people are maintaining contact in order to protect everyone with them they are withholding information about their location"

"At least one person I worked with on a regular basis is safe"

"We know and we did try to rescue your friends but the Dopants were just a little bit faster"

"Hey did you check the secret room I told you guys about?"

"Yes and that was completely destroyed as well"

"What about Philip's Gaia Memories?"

"We couldn't find them"

"And the drivers?"

"We couldn't find those either"

"Than that means he at least could still be alive"

"Hidari Shotaro the reason we couldn't find them is because nothing was identifiable, we should have showed you these earlier but we wanted to wait until you were a bit more recovered before revealing these pictures"

They show Shotaro the pictures of the main Agency area and also where Philip stayed and even Shotaro had to agree that the Memories and drivers wouldn't have survived the destruction he saw

"One thing how come you haven't found their remains?"

"With how hot the fires are and the ashes we simply couldn't identify their remains, either that or the Dopants took them as trophies which in that case means we'll never find them"

"Unless those rumors are true"

"Even if they are true you won't be able to reunite with them for a very long time, not until we get a better grip on the situation and free a good portion of Japan starting with Futo"

"I know, wishful thinking on my part really"

"Wait, why are the two of you called the two in one detective anyways?"

"Because we're two sides of the same coin there's a reason why we're called W, once the double driver is on we're mentally connected to each other"

"Maybe we can find out the truth with the double driver"

But Shotaro shakes his head no which shocks the others

"But I thought you want the others to know that you're alive, at least if they're alive themselves"

"Not until I can take care of myself better which means I am walking and able to fight, there's a reason why I'm the main body for W"

"Oh and what reason is that?"

"Philip is physically weaker than I am, he doesn't have the endurance I have, thus the reason why he hardly ever changed into the Fang/Joker combination"

"Well if they survived then most likely Terui Ryu would have made sure Philip could handle fighting by increasing his endurance since they lost you first"

"That's a good thing, but he'll still be weaker than me and Terui and will have to back out before us. However I am glad that he can take care of things a lot better if I become incapacitated, that is if your theory is correct"

"By the way should the surgery work when will you test the theory with the double driver?"

"After a few fights with Dopants that don't wreak me physically or completely weaken me in regards towards endurance too fast"

"So basically once you know you can handle yourself in a fight"

"Exactly"

"Fine, but this is going to take a while"

"I knew before we even found the solution to my problem that it would take several months of therapy for me to be effective again"

"True, well we're going to wait until you're in a better state of mind before we do the surgery so tomorrow at the earliest"

"Understood, by the way once we get my legs working again and I am able to at least walk I was wondering if I could join you in the meeting room to help teach you guys about Dopants"

"That would be greatly appreciated"

"Okay then that's what we'll do, and once I'm cleared for it we're definitely sparring"

"So who first?"

"You Captain"

"Fine by me"

The soldiers leave Shotaro alone to contemplate the situation he was in and he started making plans in regards to his recovery, first he would regain the use of his legs and once that was accomplished he would work his hardest in his physical therapy so that he could get back to form as quickly as possible, though his coordination when it came to fighting initially would be off he suspected but that was simply part of the recovery period and also training in his mind. Once that was accomplished he would start fighting Dopants and once he was comfortable he would put on the double driver to let his friends who he considered family know he was alive, even if they had to remain separated in order to fight back against the Dopants until they were clearly taken care of. While Hidari was preparing for surgery that would hopefully let him regain the use of his legs Terui Ryu, Terui Akiko and Philip had been fighting back and were starting to take in civilian refugees that they were taking care of

"Philip-kun how are our supplies?"

"Fine Aki-chan, though I have some concerns about how often we go through our medical supplies"

"We're working on it, but you know as well as I do that it's getting more and more dangerous to venture topside, those that are still on the surface are barely doing better than we are and more and more people are either being forced into camps or being killed outright every day forcing those left to hide underground like we are"

"So are you going topside to fight or do a supply check?"

"Neither, today Terui Ryu and I are going civilian hunting, if we have to fight in the process then we have to fight in the process but both of us agree that we should try and get more civilians to safety for the next few days, even if it's not necessarily with us"

"Good point, okay I'll hold the fort here then, by the way tell Ryu-kun that I expect both of you home by dinner and to not take any unnecessary risks"

"Yes Aki-chan I'll pass that message along"

Philip and Ryu start doing exactly what they said they were going to do which was civilian hunting and actually succeeded in convincing fifteen families that going into hiding was the best option for them and while most of the families decided not to go with Philip and Ryu with as many underground camps that had sprung up they managed to find places for everyone who decided to stay at another place, the rest did go with Philip and Ryu and were greeted by Akiko

"Let's get you guys settled and then I'm going to get started on dinner, oh by the way Ryu-kun I just did a check on the secondary location and things are looking okay for now"

"Good to know, so another check sometime next week?"

"Yes, with a few of the potential people staying there next time, we need to start getting an idea of just how many people or families will fit"

"Good point, okay just remind them that they should remember the route since we're underground they won't have visual ques as to their new location unless they've lived in the area before"

"Got it Ryu-kun"

Akiko leaves to cook dinner and an hour later she goes back to where she left her husband and friend only to find them sleeping together under one blanket, which doesn't really surprise her considering just how hard the missions had been lately meant they barely had any sleep and what sleep they did get was interrupted on occasion. She simply let the two of them sleep while she made sure the rest were eating dinner and once everyone had their ration of the night she made sure to preserve some of her dinner so that should Philip and Ryu wake up in the middle of the night they would have something to eat. Once that was done she simply went to the nearby couch and went to sleep there knowing that if she tried to sleep against her husband she would wake the both of them up and that wasn't a good thing in her mind as she knew what they did to keep everyone safe. The next day she woke up to the smell of food cooking and discovered that Philip and Ryu had teamed up to make everyone breakfast seeing as how they had missed dinner the night before and hadn't helped like they normally would have

"Did you two have a decent sleep for once?"

"Yes we did, though you should have woken us up so that we could do our part"

"You guys have been busy lately I knew it was for the best that you get actual sleep, by the way did you two intend to sleep like you did or was that an accident?"

"Accident actually, we were simply sitting there talking and I guess we nodded off soon after without even noticing it. Did the others see that?"

"One person did but when they asked about it I simply told them that you two were too tired to move and that I would sleep with my husband the next time, after all it's not the first time you two have slept together since this whole mess started, and I've slept with Philip-kun a few times too"

"When one of you were comforting me"

"Exactly Philip-kun we were acting like friends would, if people decide to misinterpret that than that's their problem, in fact the three of us have slept together once before if I recall correctly"

"When we were stargazing, I'm surprised Jinno didn't come by to wake us up in the middle of the night, or some other police officer"

"Actually I asked him about that the next day and he was the one that found us and then made sure everyone else knew not to disturb us seeing as how it had only been two weeks since we had lost Shotaro to the Dopant"

The three of them got quiet at that reminder but then quickly picked themselves up again cooking. Another person had walked in while they were talking and had seen that look at the mention of someone they had never met, but having lost someone themselves they understood what the three of them were going through, and also understood the relationship the three of them had. They went back to the rest of the group knowing they had to pass this on

"Look no matter what you see never mention the relationship between our benefactors, two of them are married and are close friends with the third person so whatever you see in regards to sleeping arrangements is nothing more than friendship if it's not the married couple"

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Okay, if you see Philip and Terui Ryu sleeping together, Philip and Terui Akiko sleeping together or all three of them sleeping together don't say anything because they're either comforting each other after a harsh dream or reminder of their lost friend or are so exhausted that they simply decided to sleep where they sat down...like what happened last night between Terui Ryu and Philip"

"Understood, but who's their lost friend and will we ever meet them?"

"I only got a first name but I don't think we'll ever meet them, the way they phrased things made it sound like that person is dead"

"Oh, well let's get some breakfast because that is smelling wonderful right about now"

"It is isn't it?"

The group soon makes it to the makeshift dining room and everyone eats their ration of breakfast simply talking about what they would do that day in regards to either making sure they had enough supplies or making sure they hadn't been discovered by Dopant's. Philip and Ryu both decided to try and take out a few of the enemy that day and told the group to be prepared to take care of their injuries once they were back and potentially a few new refugees as well, explaining that the fight for Japan had only really just begun in earnest. Meanwhile Shotaro was undergoing surgery at the same time the refugee group was eating breakfast

"Hopefully when he wakes up he'll start to be able to regain feeling in his legs and in a few days he'll be able to start physical therapy"

"For now though we should do the surgery so that he can hopefully regain the use of his legs"

The surgery lasted for three hours and he stayed under for about another hour after being given the reversal from the anethesia. Once he woke up everyone could tell he was still pretty out of it but was awake enough to answer basic questions about his legs

"Do you feel this?"

What the doctor was asking him to feel was a pen touching the bottom of his feet, while Shotaro couldn't feel that far yet they soon discovered that he had already regained feeling to right above the knee, and over the next few days he fully regained feeling in his legs which meant he would soon be able to stand up and start doing more physical therapy than he initially could do in just the bed. Over the next few months both groups fell into a routine the Narumi group kept their people safe and keeping the Dopant levels manageable and away from their base as much as possible, though a section of the group did have to move into the Terui home because of how much they had expanded and that helped keep things manageable as well since the civilians took pot shots at the Dopants as well, though always in a careful manner. While the Narumi group was managing the Dopants the military side with Shotaro was doing things outside of Futo that was helping things stay manageable in the city, he also helped them understand Dopant weaknesses while also working on getting back into fighting form so that he could join in on the battle that he knew was taking a while and would continue to take a bit of time because of just how many Gaia Memories were currently around and being made at a moments notice it seemed, though how they were being made was currently a mystery

"Hey guys I think it's time that Kamen Rider Joker get involved in a more active manner"

"You want to start fighting in the front lines don't you?"

"Yes I do"

"Okay but not until tomorrow, how have the sparring sessions been going?"

"I've actually been doing pretty good, but the true test will be against a Dopant"

"The first you've fought since one almost killed you close to a year ago now"

"Yeah, soon it will have been a year since my attack, it's already been what seven months?"

"Nine months, you were in a coma for two, the Narumi group was not really doing much for one and after that it's been six months since the fighting has happened in earnest"

"Wow nine months since that day, it really has been a while"

"But you've recovered really well"

"Okay I'll start fighting tomorrow, for now though what's the reports from the field?"

"We still have those rumors about Kamen Rider Accel and Kamen Rider Cyclone going around, it's really hard to get proof though"

"Don't worry once I start really fighting and know I can handle myself against Dopants I will put on the double driver and let my friends know I'm alive and okay, even if we have to stay separated for now"

"If your mental connection still works that means that at the very least Philip is alive correct?"

"Yes and he can confirm if Akiko and Terui Ryu are alive as well"

"Okay then, but not until you know for a fact that you can handle yourself against Dopants"

"But of course"

The next day Shotaro goes outside for the first time in nine months and is soon confronted by a Dopant which he knew meant that it was time to transform so he took out his lost driver and the Joker memory

"Henshin! Joker!"

He soon gains the upper hand as Kamen Rider Joker

"Rider punch! Rider kick! Joker extreme!"

He does three succesive attacks which work quite effectively allowing a few of the civilians to escape. This would continue for several days though there were times when he never came across a Dopant and only found civilians which were doing fine on their own, though he also spotted the Narumi group a few times without knowing it and vice-versa with them. Meanwhile the Narumi group was actually taking a break because of just how large they had gotten and they really needed more supplies so Philip and Ryu only left at specific times that would allow them to get supplies while Akiko checked on their satallite location of the Terui household

"Philip, let's get some training in because we haven't really been doing much lately and I don't want to get rusty, besides I want to see if you've improved any since the last time we sparred"

"Works for me Terui Ryu"

So the two of them have a friendly spar, though for them a friendly spar was nothing like the other spars and that included Terui going up against a fellow police officer who had joined not that long ago, though they weren't that familiar with Ryu because of the fact that they were part of a different department but police training was police training so Terui didn't hold back by much. For the two of them a friendly spar meant going full out and using anything you could to your advantage, even if it was a still healing injury because the Dopant's would use anything against them out in the field, the only restriction both of them had was that they had to wait at least one day for the opponent to heal if the spar was called after a battle where there had been injuries serious enough to affect their escape

"Rules?"

"No changing into our Kamen Rider forms this time"

"Sure"

The reason that was said was because the two of them were in a private training area that was for the two of them only so that they could practice sparring in their Kamen Rider forms without risking the rest of the camp discovering their secret. The two of them get into their stance and at a silent signal they went at each other full force, Philip taking advantage of a shoulder injury that Ryu had while Ryu took advantage of a leg injury, neither went for the head this time because that was another rule, you avoided the head if there was even a chance of a head injury being hidden that had been gained in the battlefield, that was one advantage they didn't take unless there was signs of vision trouble, if that turned out to be the case they went a little lower than normal or used moves a little sooner but if it persisted they would call each other out on head injuries and stop the spar if one was confirmed. An hour later the spar was finished and the two of them were cleaning themselves up for lunch

"Hey Terui Ryu do you think Shotaro would be glad of how much I've improved since we first started as Kamen Rider?"

"I know he would be Philip, and Philip don't you think it's time to call me Terui like Shotaro?"

"If you want"

"Yes, it's time for you to stop being so formal in using my full name"

"Thank you Terui"

Akiko had come in at the end of the spar and had heard the conversation after they were finished fighting and was smiling

(Thinks) "_it's about time Philip-kun started being less formal around Ryu-kun_" (out loud) "guys lunch is ready when you are, oh and Ryu-kun your fellow officer wanted to talk to you about the satallite section of the group later today"

"Fine Chief, tell him after lunch"

They eat lunch and continue their routine of keeping up with the civilian side of things when a few days later Akiko walked in after they were finished with a spar only to discover Philip unconscious

"Ryu-kun what happened to Philip-kun?"

"Take a look at his waist and you'll see"

Akiko takes a look and sees the double driver for the first time in a long while

"What happened why does he have the double driver on?"

"I think I should take you back a little bit"

_Fifteen minutes earlier with Hidari Shotaro_

"This is not good, I need more power than what I have with just Joker, especially with this guy being an ice type Dopant...looks like it's time for me to reveal myself

Shotaro puts on the double driver for the first time in nine months and is instantly connected to Philip

*Hey Philip I need some help here, more specifically the Heat Memory *

Shotaro takes out a Memory he hadn't used in a while and taps it with the Memory calling out it's name

"Metal!"

"Henshin! Heat! Metal!"

Shotaro puts the Metal Memory in the double driver, pushes it down and then pushes the two Memories away from each other to become Kamen Rider W for the first time in nine months

_Fifteen minutes earlier with Philip_

Philip was sparring with Terui again when suddenly he felt a driver go around his waist and hears a mental voice he hadn't heard in nine long months

*Hey Philip I need some help here, more specifically the Heat Memory *

*Shotaro?! How are you alive? *

*Later just get the Heat Memory ready *

*One moment *

Terui had by that point stopped fighting because he had noticed Philip was distracted, when he pulled out the Heat Memory he was surprised, and then Philip tapped the Memory so that the name was heard and then their routine call was made

"Henshin!"

Philip put the Memory into the driver and fell unconscious, when Terui caught him he noticed that Philip wasn't wearing the lost driver, no he was actually wearing the double driver, a driver he hadn't seen in nine months

"It can't be"

_Present_

"He's been this way ever since"

Just then Philip woke up

"Aki-chan, Terui, Shotaro says hi and apologizes for being thought dead for so long, he didn't really give me any explanations but he said that he had to stay where he was for the moment, but he is willing to meet us in two days at a location of our choosing so that he can explain things to us with the permission of his benefactors"

"You actually...talked to Shotaro-kun?"

"Yes, it's why I got distracted during the spar Terui"

"I figured as much as soon as I saw the double driver, but until you confirmed it I wasn't quite ready to believe what I was seeing was true considering..."

"Considering the evidence we had for ourselves"

"I didn't hear about this"

"No one did"

The rest of the camp heard Akiko's "phrase" as they came to call it but with the others saying the same thing they knew something had come up that the leaders probably wouldn't discuss until a later date if at all because Philip, Akiko and Ryu still had their secrets including the identify of their missing person and a few other things that they simply didn't know how to ask about

"Is something wrong?"

"No just something we're going to have to check in a few days, when that happens my fellow officer will temporarily be in charge"

"Why haven't you called him by his name?"

"He hasn't given us one remember?"

"Oh yeah, I know his name due to circumstances but he's asked me not to tell you"

"Will you tell him about your plans when you meet him after lunch?"

"Yes I will, but first we're going to eat without talking about any work for once"

"Yeah it seems like only breakfast and occasionally dinner work isn't discussed you've always discussed work during lunch"

Lunch was eaten and afterwords Ryu and his fellow officer made a few plans and that's when Ryu informed him that he was to be in charge in two days for a few hours

"What for?"

"There's something the three of us have to personally take care of and it might take a while, and since you're a police officer you're the next best thing we have in regards to leadership of the group and it's defenses"

"You have a point, though the civilians aren't doing too bad"

"That policy of ours has helped but still I would feel better with you in charge while we're gone"

"Fine, just let me know before you leave okay?"

"Will do"

While that was going on Shotaro got permission to explain who he was currently staying with and how they saved his life from his benefactors

"I think once you explain the story to them they'll understand why they were never contacted sooner"

"I hope so, because you do not want them mad at you, even Akiko and her only weapon is a shoe"

"Okay how does that work?"

"It just does as long as we're not in Kamen Rider form"

Two days later they actually met at the place where it all began

"Shotaro..."

"Hidari..."

"Shotaro-kun..."

"Hey guys, I guess I have some explaining to do"

"Yes, we saw you fall"

"Nine months ago when I fell into the ocean the military was doing an exercise and got me inside before I drowned to death, unfortunately I wound up in a coma and they decided not to inform you because of the fact that you would demand proof and that would be too dangerous for everyone. They already knew about us being Kamen Riders because they kept an eye on us after being a costumer before. Well I eventually woke up and wanted to send a message to you guys but that's when we heard the Narumi Detective Agency had been destroyed with you guys in it"

"Did you ever suspect that we might be alive?"

"Yes Akiko I did, but I decided not to contact you to find out because of the fact that at that point I was useless except as the Joker half of the Fang/Joker combination due to the fact that I was paralyzed, a few months later I regained my legs and since then I have been working in therapy and with the government to take down the Dopants. That's why I can't leave them right now, they're dealing with Dopants all over the country and they need help understanding the enemy, I'm considered a civilian contractor that helps on a regular basis but only until the Dopant threat is handled then I can be a true civilian again and work as a detective like I want to"

"Shotaro, if Extreme is needed will you answer the call?"

"Yes Philip I will, if possible I will answer the call when you need me as the Joker half of the Fang/Joker combination"

"Good, you'll find I can handle battles a lot easier now too"

"I knew it, Terui you've been working with him haven't you?"

"Yes, he still can't fight as long as you can against some opponents but he can last much longer than he used to, and he's able to effectively defend himself not henshined also"

"That's good, now then I think we should get back to our respective places"

"Not until we get each other well and fully caught up"

So for the next two hours they simply enjoyed each others company until finally the two groups had to go their separate ways, but with a promise to keep in contact more often through the double driver. Over the next several years the group got together on occasion but mainly stayed away from each other by force because of just how bad the Dopants were, many times during a military meeting Shotaro would have to stop talking in the middle of a meeting and bring out the Joker Memory which meant that Philip was calling him and it also happened the other way around for the Narumi group though they still mainly worked solo between themselves because that was the best chance that Japan had. Finally after ten years of fighting Dopants mainly in Futo the Kamen Riders won the battle and also passed down the title to chosen successors that knew the importance of keeping things a secret. The Narumi Detective Agency returned soon after and things remained peaceful, Terui Ryu, Terui Akiko and Hidari Shotaro all died thirty years after freeing Japan from the Dopants while Philip simply disappeared one day never to be seen again while the successors to the Kamen Rider names also became the successors to the Narumi Detective Agency and that tradition was passed down through the years even as Futo changed and developed eventually becoming New Futo. One thing that never changed in Futo though was that no matter what the building looked like on the outside whenever someone came into the Narumi Detective Agency they would always see someone dressed like they were from the 1940's as was the interior and that was simply the only way the people of Futo knew how things were supposed to be at that location even if they never remembered the history behind it


End file.
